Rediscovering the Magic of Instant Food

Text by Nora Vasconcelos

For the past weeks I’ve been reading (and truly enjoying) a unique cooking book titled Meals in a Jar, by Julie Languille, an author who found the way to develop “quick and easy, just-add-water, homemade recipes”.

The first thing that caught my attention was the cover of the book that shows different kinds of preserves which, I must say, looked very delicious, and as soon as I started going through its pages, it was like going on a culinary trip in which I was able to learn how to make all kind of preserves such as Tortilla Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Macaroni and Cheese, Machaca, Carnitas, Beef and Vegetables, Cheddar Garlic Biscuits, No Bake Cookies and Chocolate Chips Cookies, all of them designed to be put in a jar (or a bag) and then kept to be used whenever time is short to cook.

These delicious recipes, are also a great option for a present, which I’m sure it’ll be quite appreciate it as it will not only save the person’s some time but also will give him or her the joy of eating homemade food.

As for the preparation of the jars/bags goes, it’s just a matter of following the books directions, spending some time at the supermarket, grocery store or farmers market, getting the ingredients for the dishes and then spending some fun time in the kitchen putting all together.

For people who love cooking, like me, it’s certainly a joy to see how everything is coming up together, nicely and quite tasty. It’s also a great opportunity for us to cook whenever we have time or feel like it, and just open the container, add some water and warm it when we feel tired or don’t want to cook.

So, all in all, I’ve found in this book by Ulysses Press, a great source of joy!